Doug Frey, CBEE, Chosen As Yale’s Horvath Memorial Lecturer

Mar 28, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Doug Frey, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, will be this year’s Horvath Memorial Lecturer at Yale University. The prestigious Csaba Horvath lecture series is in memory of Professor Csaba Horvath, who is responsible for developing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), without which modern chemistry and biotechnology would be difficult, if not impossible. The lecture is sponsored by Yale’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and The Goizueta Foundation. Dr. Frey will speak on new methods and applications for the chromatography of biological macromolecules at Yale on April 16.

COEIT Uses Constellation Energy’s Education Award For Undergraduate Research

Mar 27, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology is using an Energy Education Award from Constellation Energy to provide energy research opportunities for a significant number of undergraduate students. This semester, students in IS 420: Advanced Database Development received technology to collect the power consumption data of different appliances and devices. They are also working to build a web-portal (GUI), which will capture human actions, energy behavior and footprint over a specific period. Project involvement encourages the students to think differently about energy systems and promotes advanced study and career preparation in the energy industry. The Constellation project helps students gain… Continue Reading COEIT Uses Constellation Energy’s Education Award For Undergraduate Research

UMBC Students Win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

Mar 21, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

We are delighted to share that Michael Moubarek ’15, biochemistry and molecular biology, and Akua Nimarko ’15, biological sciences and psychology, have been named recipients of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Talmo Pereira ’15, bioinformatics and computational biology, has received an honorable mention. The intensely competitive Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program offers scholarships for students to pursue research careers in math, science and engineering. This year marks a record for the number of UMBC students recognized by the program. Special thanks go to the dedicated UMBC committee managing applicant recruitment and nominations, including Stephen Freeland, Jennie Leach,… Continue Reading UMBC Students Win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

Marie desJardins, CSEE, Receives NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

Mar 12, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) has selected Professor Marie desJardins as one of four awardees of the 2014 NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award. The award comes with a gift to UMBC of $5,000, sponsored by AT&T that can be used to further Professor desJardins’s mentoring activities. The award will be presented at the 2014 NCWIT Summit in Newport Beach, California in May 2014. NCWIT is a non-profit community of more than 500 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women’s participation in technology and computing. Their annual NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award… Continue Reading Marie desJardins, CSEE, Receives NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

UMBC Postdoctoral Fellow Evelyn Thomas Profiled in SIAM News

Mar 12, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Evelyn Thomas, a faculty diversity postdoctoral fellow in mathematics and statistics, is featured in a new profile in SIAM News, a widely read newspaper sponsored by the professional organization Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The profile was written by Mathematics Professor Manil Suri. The article illustrates the challenges and opportunities Thomas has encountered over the course of her career and describes her motivation for researching her doctoral dissertation. In the article, Suri also writes about the work Thomas has begun since arriving at UMBC for her postdoc, including starting a new epidemiological project based on the rise of cholera in Haiti… Continue Reading UMBC Postdoctoral Fellow Evelyn Thomas Profiled in SIAM News

Marie desJardins, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, on Voice of America

Mar 11, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Voice of America’s International Women’s Day coverage highlights the efforts of leading women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to encourage girls to pursue those fields. In a video posted on the news site, Marie desJardins, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, says, “Make sure your kids are getting [exposure to STEM] from an early age so they think of themselves as creators of technology and new ideas, not just following the rules.” See the video and article on Voice of America by clicking here.

Karan Odom and Kevin Omland, Biological Sciences, Make Headlines for Bird Song Research

Mar 6, 2014 / 3 minutes of reading

Karan Odom and Kevin Omland, biological sciences, recently made headlines around the world with a Nature Communications article that challenges the assumption that bird song is an exclusively male trait resulting from sexual selection. Odom, a Ph.D. student in Omland’s lab, led a team of researchers from UMBC, the University of Melbourne in Australia, Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Australian National University in this groundbreaking work. The researchers completed an extensive global study of songbirds and found that 71% of songbirds surveyed had female song. They also mapped the traits of female song onto an evolutionary tree, which… Continue Reading Karan Odom and Kevin Omland, Biological Sciences, Make Headlines for Bird Song Research

Brian Cullum, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Named SPIE Fellow

Mar 5, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Brian Cullum, chemistry and biochemistry, has been elected as an SPIE fellow for his achievements as an innovator in photonics and sensors. SPIE’s announcement of the honor recognizes Cullum specifically for “pioneering research on intracellular SERS nanosensors and optical sensing techniques for both environmental and biological monitoring.” As the head of the Center for Translational Nanobioscience, Cullum focuses on developing nanotechnology for biomedical and defense related applications. He also founded and chairs Smart Medical and Physiological Sensor Technology, an annual international conference. SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics and Fellows are honored for their technical achievements and… Continue Reading Brian Cullum, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Named SPIE Fellow

Dr. Rick Forno discusses data breaches on WEAA

Feb 27, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

CSEE’s Dr. Rick Forno, Cybersecurity GPD and Assistant Director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, was a guest on WEAA’s ‘The Marc Steiner Show’ where he joined Dr. Lisa Yeo of Loyola University in discussing cybersecurity issues and best practices in light of recent high-profile data breaches such as those at the University of Maryland, Target, and Indiana University. Listen to the segment here.

Prof. Fow-Sen Choa Elected SPIE Fellow

Feb 27, 2014 / 2 minutes of reading

CSEE professor Fow-Sen Choa has been selected as a Fellow of SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics. SPIE Fellows are honored for their technical achievements and for their service to the general optics community and to SPIE in particular. Professor Choa was cited for for achievements in the development of standoff chemical sensing using quantum cascade lasers. In the announcement of Dr. Choa’s section, the SPIE noted that: “Choa has contributed significantly to the advancement of standoff chemical sensing using quantum cascade lasers, achieving a greater than 41 feet standoff chemical detection distance. In addition his research on… Continue Reading Prof. Fow-Sen Choa Elected SPIE Fellow

Stephen Freeland, INDS, in WIRED

Feb 13, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Most scientist accept the RNA world hypothesis, which states that RNA was the first biological molecule due to its ability to copy itself and pass along genetic traits. However, Nicholas Hud, a chemist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, wasn’t convinced. A recent article in WIRED, courtesy of Quanta Magazine, discusses Hud’s experiment with the building blocks of RNA. The experiment made a breakthrough with the discovery of a chemical recipe that points to the existence of a molecule that might pre-date RNA. Quanta interviewed Stephen Freeland, director of UMBC’s interdiscipinary studies program, for the article. “In my opinion, nothing… Continue Reading Stephen Freeland, INDS, in WIRED

Dr. Kenneth Gibbs ’05, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in Science Magazine

Jan 30, 2014 / 1 minute of reading

Most new Ph.D.s in science are encouraged to pursue tenure-track faculty positions. Dr. Kenneth Gibbs felt pressured to follow that path, but instead he decided to explore a career in science policy in order to more directly impact society. Dr. Gibbs recounts his professional journey and shares advice for future scientists in an essay in Science Magazine, entitled “Planning a Career in Today’s Landscape.” As a member of the 13th Meyerhoff cohort, Dr. Gibbs majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He then completed a Ph.D. in Immunology at Stanford. Currently, Dr. Gibbs is a part of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship… Continue Reading Dr. Kenneth Gibbs ’05, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in Science Magazine